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Wednesday, April 18, 2012

The Time 100 Most Influential People in thew World - Full List

It's that time of year when Time Magazine tells us who the people are who shape our world - the 100 most influential people in the world. Honestly, as plugged in as I sometimes like to think I am, I do not know who the majority of these people are, aside from a few athletes, politicians, and entertainers.

Of all the people on this list, Tim Tebow is one of the most intriguing to me. He was one of the best college football quarterbacks ever - and this was what made him a star - and he is, statistically, one of the worst pro football quarterbacks ever, yet he wins games. He is WAY larger than football player/athlete - he has somehow become a cultural rockstar (and with that, he also has his haters). He is not hesitant to share his deep Christian faith with anyone who will listen, and when gave an Easter Day sermon (he preaches too?) nearly 15,000 people showed up to hear him.

Maybe it is his Christian faith, and the unusual willingness to share his time and monetary blessings that make him such an icon. Yet, I did not know about this side of him until ESPN's Rick Reilly wrote about it:

Every week, Tebow picks out someone who is suffering, or who is dying,
or who is injured. He flies these people and their families to the
Broncos game, rents them a car, puts them up in a nice hotel, buys them
dinner (usually at a Dave & Buster's), gets them and their families
pregame passes, visits with them just before kickoff (!), gets them
30-yard-line tickets down low, visits with them after the game
(sometimes for an hour), has them walk him to his car, and sends them
off with a basket of gifts.

Home or road, win or lose, hero or goat.

Remember last week, when the world was pulling its hair out in the hour after Tebow had stunned the Pittsburgh Steelers with an 80-yard OT touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas in the playoffs? And Twitter was exploding with 9,420 tweets about Tebow per second? When an ESPN poll was naming him the most popular athlete in America?

Tebow was spending that hour talking to 16-year-old Bailey Knaub about her 73 surgeries so far and what TV shows she likes.

This is definitely something to admire in a world where most athletes only care about stats and money.

Here is the introduction for Time, from the New York Knicks Jeremy Lin, who also made the list of 100.

Watching Tim Tebow play football, you can observe many
things about his character. You see his fierce competitiveness, his
strong work ethic and how he is a leader that his teammates trust and
respect.

But it is the qualities that Tim, 24, embodies in his life off
the field that truly set him apart. He is unashamed of his convictions
and faith, and he lives a life that consistently reflects his values,
day in and day out. Through his foundation, he constantly reaches out to
people and communities in need of hope. He realizes what he has been
blessed with and seeks to help those who are worse off. As athletes, we
pour our hearts into winning games. Tim is a reminder that life is about
much more than that.